Extra security for McCaskill after rally comment

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Extra security is in place for Sen. Claire McCaskill following a comment at a tea party rally last week.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch (http://bit.ly/J0UzbR) reported Tuesday that St. Louis-area activist Scott Boston told a tea party gathering in Springfield, Mo., that "We have to get Claire McCaskill out.

"We have to kill the Claire Bear, ladies and gentlemen," Boston said Thursday. "She walks around like she's some sort of Rainbow Brite Care Bear or something, but really she's an evil monster."

The Post-Dispatch reports that the comment was enough to prompt the U.S. Capitol Police to seek extra protection for McCaskill, a Missouri Democrat who is up for re-election in November.

Meanwhile, police in the St. Louis suburb of Kirkwood, where McCaskill lives, say they were asked by the Capitol security agency to step up patrols around her house. She also had extra security with her at public appearances.

Boston said his comment was not meant to be harmful, but a metaphor for puncturing McCaskill's political persona.

"I was comparing her to like a giant Care Bear," Boston told the newspaper. "If I said anything, I said, 'We need to kill the Claire Bear,' this idea that Claire McCaskill is this wonderful person running around doing great things for us."

McCaskill's office in Washington declined comment.

The event in Springfield was hosted by The Tea Party Express, which is endorsing Sarah Steelman's campaign for the Republican nomination for Senate.